


Hale Pack's House for Wandering Strays

by ExtraSteps



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Gen, No idea where this is going, but erica and boyd lives au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-28
Updated: 2020-04-30
Packaged: 2021-03-02 00:07:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,815
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23885707
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ExtraSteps/pseuds/ExtraSteps
Summary: Erica, Boyd and Isaac flee Beacon Hills to escape the alpha pack and their dangerous lives in Beacon Hills. Set up in the Hale's country estate, they live in quiet solitude together, until one day Cora Hale turns up on their doorstep and changes everything.
Comments: 5
Kudos: 6





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [tonytonesphoneroo5000](https://archiveofourown.org/users/tonytonesphoneroo5000/gifts), [parttimehuman](https://archiveofourown.org/users/parttimehuman/gifts).



> Happy birthday lovely ladies <3

“It’s better this way.”

Derek closed the passenger side door of the truck he’d bought for them, moving back onto the path and crossing his arms.

Erica studied him with a troubled gaze and he offered her a tight smile. And then without another word, Boyd started up the truck, pulling out of the driveway and onto the road.

“Will we see him again, do you think?” Isaac asked from the backseat. He was still turned halfway around, staring out the rear window at the disappearing form of their alpha.

“Hopefully one day,” Erica said with a sigh, slumping back against her chair.

She turned to look at Boyd. His jaw was clenched tight, and she reached a hand towards him, rubbing his arm. 

“We’ll be okay,” she told him quietly. “We have each other.”

Argent had let them go and they’d gone straight to Derek. He’d shoved them and Isaac into a car and told them to leave, giving them the keys to a place a few states over and enough money that none of them would need a job for several years if they were careful about it.

It felt like giving up, but Erica was sick of being chained and tortured. She was sick of seeing Boyd and Isaac hurt. And she was ready for this fresh start.

It still seemed strange to her, how much her life had changed since taking the bite. The fits that had been a weekly occurrence were now gone forever in a medical miracle, a scan of her brain showing no damage. It had all healed, just like Derek told her it would. Her body, once weak and fragile, was now strong and healthy, and for the first time in her life, Erica could run and jump and dance like anyone else could.

One of Derek’s first actions had been to drive her to a very expensive salon, where he handed her off to a sleek, intimidating woman called Berta, along with a black credit card and a dazzling smile. That, followed by the shopping spree at the mall, had left Erica feeling confident and beautiful in a way she’d once thought impossible.

She smiled a little sadly at that, turning to look out of her window where she could just make out her reflection. What did beauty matter when you were spending your whole life running from people who wanted to kill you?

All three of them were silent for a long time, lost in their thoughts. 

***

The house was large enough that the three of them could live comfortably without being on top of each other. There were six bedrooms, two living areas, two bathrooms and another toilet, an enormous kitchen and a yard that was fenced in on all sides by a forest of enormous trees that grew into a dense canopy that all but blocked out the sunlight. 

That didn’t stop them from sharing the same bed, Erica in the middle of the two boys on a king sized bed in a puppy pile that had helped to soothe the anxiety of being so far away from their alpha. It was meant to be a temporary thing, but months later Erica was used to the comforting warmth of the boys on either side of her.

There was nothing sexual about it. It was comfort, pure and simple. Most nights at least one of them work up shaking from a nightmare, and having the other two nearby made them less severe.

They all found part time jobs, though they didn’t really need them, but it was something to break up the monotony of the day. Erica worked at a diner bussing tables and flirting for tips, and it was one of those shifts that someone walked in, their scent immediately identifying them as wolf, and _pack_.

Erica turned, eyebrows furrowed as her eyes swept up and down the woman standing before her, her nostrils also flaring.

“So,” the woman said, “the rumours are true.”

“What?” Erica asked, staring at her.

“There is a Hale Alpha,” she continued, and there was something hard about her, something in her eyes that spoke of many years of pain. “Who is it? Is it Laura? Peter?”

She was a beautiful woman, with tanned skin and long, dark brown hair. The stubborn clench of her jaw and the shape of her eyes were familiar.

“You’re a Hale,” Erica said, eyes wide. Derek had told her that his family was dead. Both of his sisters, Laura, who had been torn in half by their uncle, and- “Cora?”

The woman, Cora, narrowed her eyes at her. “Answer my question, and maybe I’ll answer yours.”

Erica grabbed her arm and pulled her out of the diner. She didn’t stop until they were around the side of the building, away from the beady eyes of the locals. “Laura’s dead,” Erica told her quietly. “I’m sorry.”

Cora’s face tightened but she said nothing. Erica knew it had been a blow though. 

“Peter is alive, but he seems pretty crazy,” Erica continued. “It’s kind of a long story there, you’d have to ask Derek.”

“Derek?” Cora asked, going still and pale. “Derek’s alive?”

Erica nodded. “He’s the alpha.”

“Oh,” Cora whispered, and she turned away, facing the same direction that Erica could feel like an insistent tug at the back of her neck. Towards Beacon Hills.

She was quiet for a few minutes, and the silence stretched uncomfortably. Erica was conscious of how long she’d been outside now, could practically feel her manager’s ire growing by the second. Just as she was about to say she needed to go, Cora looked at her.

“You’re staying at the estate, I assume?”

Erica nodded. “Derek gave us the keys.”

Cora frowned. “Us?”

“Boyd and Isaac are there as well,” Erica explained.

At this, Cora’s eyebrows rose. “Well, my brother has been busy.” She turned to leave, and Erica stopped her, grabbing her arm.

“It’s not safe,” she said. “Beacon Hills, he sent us away because it wasn’t safe. There’s an alpha pack.”

At this, Cora gave a sad smile. “I know,” she said. “I better go. I don’t want to lead them here.”

“Be careful,” Erica called after her retreating form.

***

When she got home that night with leftovers from the diner, still steaming, it was to find Boyd and Isaac sitting on the porch, looking shell-shocked.

She paused and looked them over. “So, you guys met Cora too, huh?”

“Yeah,” Isaac said, his honeyed eyes sparking. “You could say that, if by met you mean talked at and told what to do.”

Erica frowned. “What do you mean?”

“We have a new resident,” Boyd said in his steady voice, though his shoulders showed how out of sorts he was feeling. “She left him here.”

It was only then that Erica noticed the extra heartbeat inside the house. Her protective instincts roared to the forefront and in the blink of an eye she was inside the house, taking in the miserable, hunched over figure sitting on their couch.

It was a boy, a year or two younger than them at Erica’s best guess, with tangled dirty blonde hair and sad grey eyes.

“This is Connor,” Isaac said from where he was leaning in the doorway behind her. “He lives here now.”

She moved closer, and the boy’s eyes tracked her, flaring gold. His arms were crossed protectively over his chest, reminding Erica more of a wild animal than a teenager.

“Hi,” she said gently. “I’m Erica. Cora bought you here?”

He nodded reluctantly, but didn’t give any further details. Erica had a feeling it would be a longer process to get him speaking, but they had to start somewhere.

“You hungry?” She asked, holding up the bag of takeaway food.

The grey eyes flicked towards the food and then back up at her. 

“Come on,” she said. “Come eat with us. Then you can pick out a room.”


	2. Chapter 2

They helped Connor to clear out a room down the hall from theirs, taking all of the plastic wrapping off the furniture and placing all of his meager belongings in the wardrobe. He looked around the room, a miserable expression on his face, but thanked them quietly.

Erica gave her boys a pointed look.

“We’ll let you get some rest,” she said gently. “We’re just a few doors down if you need us, okay?”

She closed the door behind them, seeing Connor sit heavily on the end of the bed and put his face in his hands right before she closed it. Her chest went tight, and she all but fled down the hallway, throwing herself into their bed and hiding her face in the pillows. 

Boyd put a hand on her back, easing in to sit beside her.

Erica let herself have a single moment to feel sorry for herself before rolling over, looking between them. “She didn’t say anything else?”

Isaac’s face went tight. “Not really. Just that she’d rescued him from a bad situation and that we were looking after him.”

“And then she patted Isaac on the cheek,” Boyd told her, cheek twitching as he swallowed down a smile.

Erica grinned. “She didn’t!”

“She did,” Isaac grumbled. “Like I was some little kid.”

“ _Oh_ ,” Erica said knowingly, immediately picking up on the issue. “You think she’s hot.”

Isaac, not one to blush, gave her a pointed look. “You saying you don’t?”

They’d both talked in the past about their preferences to both men and women, and had spent more than a little time ranking pretty much everyone around in terms of hot factor.

“She may have risen into the number three spot,” she conceded with a smirk.

“As usual, I have _no_ idea what you’re talking about,” Boyd grumbled.

“Shhhh,” she said, patting his thigh. “Don’t worry, Boyd. You’ll always be our number one.”

Boyd just rolled his eyes, fully used to their antics. “Do I want to know who number two is?” He asked.

Erica looked up at him and mimed locking her lips and throwing away the key. When they both looked at Isaac, he did the same. She winked at him and he gave her one of those smarmy, Isaac grins.

It was a weird situation, but they’d survived worse. Together, they could bring up one baby werewolf.

***

Erica had the next day off, and spent the morning moving around the kitchen, humming as she cleaned and tidied up the mess of the past few days. Boyd had gone out for a run, and Isaac preferred a bit of a lie in on the weekends and was still dozing in their king sized bed.

There was no noise coming from Connor’s room as of yet so she left him be. He’d come out when he was good and ready, and she had no intention of forcing him.

Once the kitchen was tidy, she put on a pot of coffee and then pulled out all the things she would need to make breakfast, clattering a few pans onto the stove top.

It was because of this that she almost missed the creak of footsteps padding down the hallway.

“Good morning,” she said without turning around. “Did you sleep okay?”

She turned when there was no answer. Connor stood frozen in the doorway, an almost guilty look on his face. Erica took note of the fact that he was dressed in the same clothes as the night before.

“It’s okay,” she said, “you can come in.”

He nodded and stuttered forward a few steps, sliding into one of the stools by the kitchen island, eyes raking over the ingredients she’d placed there.

“You hungry?” She asked.

Connor nodded immediately and she smiled at him. “Good.”

She cracked four eggs into a bowl and handed it to him with a whisk. “I assume you know what to do with those?”

The shadow of a smile appeared on his face and he nodded, immediately setting to the task she’d set him. She placed the flour and milk in front of him.

“Pancake batter,” she told him. “Simplest recipe ever. For every egg you need a cup of flour and a cup of milk. And you need one egg per person.”

He nodded again, and she put the cup next to the ingredients, leaving him to it so that she could fire up the stove and get started on the bacon. 

They worked together in comfortable silence. She accepted the batter from him once he was done, and put him in charge of watching the bacon while she ladled out batter onto the frying pan.

Connor stiffened when Isaac entered the room. He flopped down onto one of the bar stools, head pillowed on his arms, still looking half asleep. “Smells good,” he muttered.

She just laughed and slid a mug towards him and placed the pot of coffee in front of him.

“Isaac isn’t functional until he’s had his first cup,” she told Connor with a conspiratorial smile. “For now, just ignore his zombie state.”

He cracked another shadow smile but he was still half turned toward Isaac, keeping a wary eye on him while trying not to burn the bacon.

Erica studied him out the corner of her eye, frowning. Why was he so skittish around Isaac when he’d been fine, albeit shy, around her?

She flipped the first lot of pancakes and let them cook for a minute longer before sliding them onto a plate. Connor placed some bacon on it when she held the plate towards him, about a fourth of the amount she’d given him.

“More than that,” she told him with a smile. “I’m not having any.”

He blinked but then added a few more rashers, looking interested now as he examined the bacon still left. Erica bit back a smirk. Typical teenage boy.

She put the plate down in front of Isaac, who gave her a tired smile as he picked up his knife and fork.

By the time they were done with the cooking, Boyd had walked in, smelling pleasantly of sweat and the outdoors. Erica and Isaac exchanged a look and then smiled as they looked away. They weren’t joking about Boyd being on top of their hot list. It was a pity that he seemed disinterested in either sex.

Boyd looked at Connor, eyes flicking down, clearly taking note of his clothing as well. He glanced at her, and she gave a quick grimace. He gave a tiny nod, jaw tightening. 

Hoping that Connor hadn’t noticed their silent exchange, Erica turned away to grab some blueberries from the fridge, placing them on top of her pancakes. She left the rest of the punnet on the table. The boys liked to pick at them every now and again. Boyd sat beside Isaac, helping himself to the pot of coffee, and Erica sat down opposite them.

Connor hovered, holding his plate to his chest with white fingers, looking uncertain.

“No one’s going to hurt you,” Boyd told him, expression even. “You can sit.”

Erica and Isaac exchanged glances and then started up a casual, rambling conversation about work. Connor inched forward and then sat down while they were talking, his whole body tense. But when no one seemed to be paying any attention to him, he picked up his fork and speared it into a rasher of bacon. He ate it, chewing slowly and deliberately.

He was nervous, and looked like he was going to bolt at any moment, but at least he was eating.

Erica grabbed the container of syrup and poured some onto her pancakes. She pushed it towards Connor in a silent invitation and then picked up on her own fork, tucking into her food.

It was a nice breakfast, and Boyd shooed them all out of the kitchen so that he could do the wash up, so Erica made herself a cup of tea and took it to the front porch with her. Isaac retreated back to their room, probably to shower, and Connor remained in the kitchen.

Trusting Boyd to deal with him, Erica enjoyed the crisp morning air as she sipped at her hot drink.

A while later, Boyd and Connor walked outside.

“We’re going into town for a bit,” Boyd told her. He had the keys in his hand, and Connor looked resigned.

“Okay,” she said with an easy smile. “You two have fun now.”

Connor got into the car with Boyd and they drove off, hopefully to go and buy the poor kid some clothes and other essential items.

“He’s a scared little thing, isn’t he?” Isaac noted, walking out to join her.

She nodded. “He is.”

Isaac’s eyes were troubled as he stared into the distance. “He sort of reminds me of, well, me,” he admitted.

Erica sighed. “Yeah.”

Cora couldn’t have left him in a better place, really.


End file.
